Osteoma: an unusual cause of amaurosis fugax.

A 16-year-old white boy presented with a history of amaurosis fugax associated with an afferent pupillary defect, proptosis, discomfort of the left eye. Tomograms of the skull and of the orbit revealed a lobulated 4-cm ivory osteoma arising from the left ethmoid sinus and extending into the maxillary sinus and left orbit. After surgical extirpation, visual acuity returned to normal and the papilledema resolved after 4 months. This patient is 1 of 37 patients with osteoma of the paranasal sinuses or of the orbit (or of both) who underwent surgical treatment at the Mayo Clinic between the years 1948 and 1977. Twelve of these patients had orbital involvement, and only these patients had ocular signs and symptoms.